Strokes From My Brush

Last month I was browsing Amazon when I came across a set of inexpensive watercolors. I'm not much of a drawer, but painting seemed a little more my style, so I decided to purchase it along with a set of brushes. Since I knew I could get watercolor paper cheaper locally I bought mine at Hobby Lobby with a coupon. I wanted a notebook to just practice and experiment in, which the  5.5"x8" Strathmore Visual Journal is perfect for. It's 140 lb. and while it isn't the best for super wet on wet, it's great for everything esle. It's also spiral bound, so it's easy to use. I also got a 9"x12" pad for when I feel like painting something to display.

While I waited for my paints and brushes to arrive in the mail I created a board on Pinterest to collect inspiration, references, and tutorials. Once the supplies arrived I started by painting some simple flowers (left) to get the feel for things. A few hours later I did the city scape (center), where I learned when and when not to let things dry before continuing. The landscape with the river (right) is the only painting that I've made so far without using an image for reference. Although it didn't turn out as I was hoping, I was able to add a few things in the end to make it a little better. The shadow on the left tree isn't the best, but the one on the right turned out really good.

One evening we were all hanging out in the backyard at the fire pit, so I decded to bring out my paints. I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out, other than the fact that the flower patches kinda stand out more than I was hoping. And I accidentally messed up the angle of one of the shadows.

 My latest paintings are more like doodles. I got a book called Craft-a-Doodle from the library, and while it's for doodling with a pen and markers I decided to do it with watercolors instead. These are my favorite paintings so far, especially the rose type flower on the right in the below image. My owl was a little lopsided, but he still turned out pretty good!